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City faces $1.3M Riverwalk lawsuit

Two construction companies that completed the Duck Riverwalk project have filed a joint lawsuit against Columbia for nearly $1.3 million worth of work they say the city hasn’t paid.

In the lawsuit, Civil Constructors and Brown Builders say the city owes them close to $500,000 for repairs they made to a bridge on 5th Street and nearly $800,000 for additional work, which was not expanded upon in the court filing.

Columbia hired Franklin-based Civil Constructors in June 2010 to work on the project, which included building trails and a farmer’s market pavilion along the Duck River near downtown. Civil Constructors received $4.5 million for the project — which was completed last year — but the company and Springfield-based Brown Builders, who was subcontracted to do part of the work, say they haven’t received their full payments. Brown Builders was not hired by the city itself.

The two companies filed a lawsuit against the city on Jan. 11, and at a meeting Thursday, the Columbia City Council approved spending $30,000 to hire Nashville-based law firm Farrar and Bates to represent them.

A representative from Brown Builders, interim city manager Jennifer Moody and city attorney Tim Tisher declined to comment Thursday on the lawsuit.

In the court filing, Civil Constructors and Brown Builders said work they did on the 5th Street bridge cost more than they originally estimated, but the cost was not significant enough a change that the city would not have to pay it.

Originally, Civil Constructors told the city repairs to the bridge would cost $200 per square foot and estimated the total cost would be $4,000, according to court documents. During construction, representatives from the Tennessee Department of Transportation studied the bridge and determined that 2,450 square feet needed to be repaired, a cost of about $490,000, the documents stated.

City officials asked the companies to lower the $200 per square foot price during the bridge’s construction, but the companies said that price was fair and they would not change it, according to the court documents.

Neither Civil Constructors nor Brown Builders have received any payment for the bridge repairs, the lawsuit alleges.

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